Audi R8

20-March-2008

• Vital Stats
• Price 

  $259,900 - $274,900

• Safety       
• Eco-friendly   
• Economical   
• Runs on 

  Premium Unleaded 

• Parking       
• Storage   
• Boot 

  100 litres 

• Cupholders 

  2

• Comfort       

Does it purr?

Who would drive this car?

Sexy, racy, kick-ass chicks who love pure power and fast acceleration (aka 0-100km/h in 4.6 seconds!).

Price

$259,900 (6-speed manual) or $274,900 (R tronic – an automatic version).

Colours

The Audi R8 is two-toned in:
* Ibis White / Ice Silver

* Brilliant Red / Brilliant Red

* Ice Silver (metallic) / Apollo Silver

* Jet Blue (metallic) / Ice Silver

* Daytona Grey (pearl) / Quartz Grey

* Monterrey Green (pearl) / Deep Green

* Mugello Blue (pearl) / Night Blue

* Phantom Black (pearl) / Lava Grey.

Goodies

* Lap timer (true racing style!)

* Sports gear stick

* Racing-style steering wheel

* Power steering

* Bluetooth (for your mobile phone)

* 7-speaker stereo (140 watts)

* Navigation system (6.5-inch colour screen)

* 16-CD disc changer

* Automatic air con

* 19-inch alloy wheels

* And get this – it has a back spoiler that adjusts its length depending on the speed you're going! You can also manually adjust it... whoa! We think Rihanna should change her song to "Shut up and Drive [the Audi R8]"!

Easy to park?

Debatable. It's almost 4.5m long and 2m wide. But it has a rear view camera, which helps.

Storage

You can fit 2 big golf bags behind the seats.

Comfy seats?

They're alright. Not too plush (don't want to fall asleep driving this mean machine now do we?!). BTW, there's only 2 seats in the car and they're electric.

How big's the booty?

This is more like the 'fronty' – there's no boot. Just 100-litres-worth of storage space under front lid (the engine is actually at the back of the car!).

Safety

* Front airbags with 2-stage inflation (depending on the seriousness of the collision)

* Side airbags (for upper body)

* Impact-absorbing doors

* Outside electronic and heated mirrors (with folding and auto dim function)

* Rear fog light

* All-wheel drive

* ESP (electronic stabilisation program), ABS (anti-lock brakes), EDL (electronic differential lock), traction control, brake assist, Audi Magnetic Ride (adapts the suspension to suit the road)

* LED tail lights (3D effect) and Xenon Plus headlights (includes cleaning system and beam angle adjustment)

* Cruise control.

Security

* Engine immobiliser

* Alarm (including tow-away protection).

Eco rating

It releases out about 348g of carbon dioxide every kilometre – not good.

Fuel economy

14.6 litres of petrol will get you about 100km. Bit exy, but it's a V8 – aka hard-core engine that needs to guzzle petrol to do its "whoa" thing.

Extra options

* Seat heating

* Tyre pressure monitoring system

* Bucket seats with electric width adjustment

* Leather upholstery

* Hill hold assist

* Bang & Olufsen stereo (surround sound, 12 speakers, 465 watts)

* Ceramic brake dics

* Storage nets/compartments

* Remote garage door opener

* All LED headlights (a world-first!!).

Did you know?

The body shell weighs just 210 kilos and is made from aluminium – light so it can really fly. It has 99m of weld seams crammed in there, 782 punch rivets and 382 self-tapping screws – aka a lot of work's gone into this cat!